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G Vinayak in Guwahati
The standoff between the Manipur Legislative Assembly and the judiciary showed signs of cooling off on Friday with the Manipur Speaker T N Haokip seeking time to consult Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi on the issue.
The Gauhati high court and its benches in the state capitals of other north eastern states had remained paralysed on Thursday after the Bar Association decided to boycott the courts following the withdrawal of security to two judges of the Imphal bench on Wednesday.
Justice Surajmani Singh and Justice B B Deb left Imphal on Wednesday by different means. While Justice Singh left by road under a Border Security Force escort, Justice Deb took the flight to Guwahati.
The crisis between the judiciary and the legislature erupted after a flurry of contempt of court cases came up for hearing at the Imphal bench early this week.
While most of the cases were against IAS officials of the state, in one particular case Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh was summoned by the judges.
Speaker T N Haokip on Thursday hinted that the House might keep its retaliatory privilege notices against the two judges concerned in abeyance.
''The crisis has subsided and both sides are heading for a reconciliation,'' Haokip and Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh told reporters on Thursday blaming the standoff on ''misunderstanding," between the legislature and the judiciary.
Ibobi, however, admitted that the crisis was not over yet. ''It will cool down gradually. It will take some time. I think we will have to adopt some give and take,'' he said.
Haokip termed the court action as ''human error'' and hoped the issue would be resolved soon. He has constituted a committee, comprising ruling and opposition MLAs and the state advocate general, that would suggest measures to close the ''unfortunate chapter.''
''It was unfortunate that [the] judges interfered with the assembly's working. The House in its collective wisdom considers it an act of contempt and the privilege committee has decided to serve a show cause notice to the judges,'' he said. Haokip said he would consult Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi on the issue before arriving at a final solution.
Meanwhile, the government has restored security cover to the court in Imphal and lifted the curfew slapped in and around the court premises.
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